Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 129



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Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 129

129. Second Hint

A high-end sushi omakase restaurant located in Ginza, Tokyo.

Originally, it was a place that accepted three or four teams at a time, but today, a powerful person rented it out.

Thanks to this, this place, which had become private, was hosting an unusual meeting.

A handsome man with a cold face wearing a black suit that contrasts with his pure white skin.

Across from him is a fierce-looking man wearing a vertical striped suit and Boeing sunglasses.

It wasn’t a meeting between Korean gangsters and Japanese yakuza bosses.

Their true identities are the real power holders of entertainment companies representing both Korea and Japan.

“Thank you for giving me this precious opportunity, Ito-san.”

First, let’s hear the thanks from Baek Seok, the real power in Korea and the general manager of MXM Entertainment.

“No, Baeksang. Rather, I am grateful that you took the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me today. Aren’t you the ones for whom every second is more valuable than gold?”

The real power in Japan, Yujiro Ito, the vice president of Let’s Production, responded.

Then his gaze turned to the person sitting next to Baek-seok.

There sat one of those people for whom every second is more valuable than gold, and a singer who had filled the event held at Tokyo Big Sight with cheers just a day earlier.

Ito asks to shake hands with a bright smile.

“This is our first time meeting in person. Hello, I am Yujiro Ito from Let’s Production.”

“Hello, this is ‘Seongjun’.”

Seongjun also greeted Ito, taking her hand that she extended.

“Congratulations on selling 990,000 copies of this album. This is only your second album, and you’re already close to selling 1 million copies… Indeed, the title ‘god’ is not an empty boast.”

“You are too kind.”

“Wow, you’re fluent in Japanese, just like I heard. This is surprising. This will make filming the ‘program’ a lot easier. Don’t you think so, Nagura-san?”

“It’s true. I’m grateful that thanks to Ito-san, we can invite stars like Sung Jun-sang.”

Ito, who was surprised by Seongjun’s fluent Japanese, opened his eyes and asked the person sitting next to him, and the skinny man with squinted eyes answered Ito in an extremely humble manner.

Then the squinty-eyed man introduced himself.

“Hello, I’m Taizou Nagura, the main producer of ‘Shabekuri 007’.”

Shabekuri 007. Abbreviated as ‘Shabekuri’.

It is a talk variety show that has been airing in Japan’s Monday prime time slot for 13 years since 2008, and is a popular show that ranks within the top 10 in viewer ratings.

There was only one reason why the PD of such a popular entertainment show was here.

Because Sungjun is going to appear in that Shabekuri!

“How could this be considered ‘a decent compensation’ for a ‘minor incident’?”

“well.”

At Ito’s words, Baekseok slightly raises the corners of his lips.

A leisurely yet heavy atmosphere.

Maybe it’s because of the two people’s appearances, but it’s like a conversation between a gangster and a yakuza exchanging a business location as a form of morality for a mistake made by an organization member.

Judging by the nuance, it seems like there was some kind of story going on behind the scenes.

It was expected.

It must be because of the ‘Shibasaki incident’.

A commotion caused by a troublemaker from over there.

Not only did they break a contract that was already set, but this also led to a busking competition.

Although I responded emotionally at the time, it would have been absurd to suddenly start a fight over something that was clearly agreed upon in a contract.

‘There’s no way that big incident didn’t reach Director Baek’s ears.’

However, the company did not take any action against Shibasaki.

As if he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

Actually, there was a reason for everything.

There was also a statement from the guest who was invited along with him.

‘As expected, Sung Jun-sang was also contacted about casting Shabekuri.’

The Twilight siblings.

I heard it while talking after the ‘AnimeJapan2024’ event yesterday.

‘He said it was an apology for Shibasaki’s rudeness.’

As Shabekuri is a very popular broadcasting station, it is difficult for even the most popular stars to appear on it. The annual schedule is already tight.

For that program, Let’s Production, which has enormous influence in the Japanese broadcasting industry, pushed aside all of the existing casting orders and inserted Sung-jun and Twilight.

‘We also felt a bit uneasy, but we accepted because Sung Jun-sang was also going to appear as a guest. My sister was also very happy. I was so surprised that my sister, who is not good at talking and therefore reluctant to appear on variety shows, readily agreed to appear.’

‘Huh? Oh, no, I-‘

Perhaps startled by her younger brother’s sudden outing after she had been quiet, Yoru’s pure white cheeks turned bright red.

“Anyway, I hope that starting with this, we can see each other more often in the future.”

Ito said with a smile.

Seongjun swallows his doubts as he looks at Ito like that.

‘It’s amazing. It’s not a fake smile.’

Seongjun, who has been rolling around in Saehyang for five years, is quite confident in reading people’s feelings.

Even though the company’s image must have been damaged because of Shibasaki, for some reason Ito was showing him a lot of favor.

It was a natural question to have, as he didn’t know that Sungjun’s boldness in going head-to-head with Shibasaki without being intimidated by the name ‘Let’s Production’ had actually won Ito’s heart.

“Well then, since you’re busy, let’s talk about the rest of the business while eating. This place in Ginza is a pretty good place to eat.”

After finishing speaking, Ito snapped his fingers.

Then, starting with the appetizer, soft Japanese custard egg, the chef’s special omakase was served one after another.

‘Wow···.’

Seongjun swallows his exclamation.

Starting with light salmon belly, followed by shrimp and mackerel, then uni (sea urchin) and sea urchin roe, tuna belly and large belly, etc.

At first glance, you can see that the sushi is oozing with oil and looks nice, welcoming Seongjun.

When I picked up one of the pieces with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth, something bizarre happened: the sushi that was clearly real melted and disappeared like cotton candy.

It was the work of a Michelin 3-star craftsman.

“Well then, I hope Sung Jun-sang has a brilliant debut in Japan-”

Ito raised the glass containing the highball.

Kaang-

The evening deepened with the clear sound of cheers.

*

A few hours later,

Seongjun and Baekseok left the store and got into Oh Haesoo’s car that came running to pick them up.

“Thank you for your hard work for a long time, Seongjun.”

“What about the hardships? The director must have had it harder. He came all the way to Japan right after returning from the world tour.”

“Because it’s an important position. Seongjun’s future activities in Japan depend on it.”

Baek-seok, in the passenger seat, opened his mouth calmly.

Even though he drank a lot of alcohol while competing with Yujiro Ito of Let’s Production, his complexion did not change at all.

Well, it was the same for Ito too.

Anyway, as his name suggests, he still maintains the form of a ‘white stone’, but he has not been in the country for the past two months as he has been following Yuna on her world tour.

Because that was the role of Baek Seok, the escort knight who escorted MXM Entertainment’s princess, Yuna.

“By the way, this is a world tour… This is already Yuna’s third time, right? That’s amazing.”

“It will soon no longer be someone else’s story. Just look at the expansion of Sungjun’s global fandom.”

Baek-seok smiled faintly at Seong-jun’s words and said.

Early next year at the earliest, mid next year at the latest.

This was Baek Seok’s idea of ​​Sung Jun’s world tour schedule.

‘MXM Entertainment is going crazy and taking a risk!

If another entertainment company had heard about it, they would have definitely reacted in the same way. It’s just a coincidence that a rookie who debuted only 5 months ago and an event like a world tour don’t match up.

one,

‘What if that singer is Sungjun?’

Then the story changes again.

“I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it if it were another artist, but Sungjun has always been an outlier since his debut.”

A monster who sold 200,000 copies in the first week of his debut, which is unusual for a non-idol singer-songwriter.

His performance was sensational, as he swept all the music show trophies with the same album and also topped the Kiwi charts.

So his world tour was not a pipe dream.

However, no matter how quickly Sungjun rose to stardom, there was no change to the fact that in order to hold a successful world tour, overseas activities and conquering the global music market must come first.

And here are the rankings of major music markets around the world:

The United States is home to many of the world’s most famous music labels and artists, generating billions of dollars in music sales each year.

Japan, a neighboring country that is active in idol groups, J-pop, and various music genres, boasts the world’s second largest market size.

Since then, the UK has become one of the centers of the music industry, producing numerous rock musicians.

Germany, the birthplace of classical music and an active player in music sales, concerts, and festivals, is following suit.

So what about Korea, which has recently taken the world by storm with K-pop?

It stops at 7th to 8th place.

Its size is one-fifteenth of the US market.

It is one-ninth of the Japanese market.

The difference in market size is overwhelming.

This is why so many domestic entertainment companies are pushing ahead with their forays into overseas markets.

In addition, it has become a formula for many entertainment companies to first enter overseas markets in geographically close Japan and then ultimately seek to enter the United States.

MXM Entertainment was also one of the companies that followed that formula.

“As for our goals for activities in Japan, we are planning to perform at the Kohaku Uta Gassen at the end of the year and hold a concert at Budokan. We are also preparing to advance into the United States in the near future. We will be collaborating with New Era.”

‘New Era’ is a new label founded by George Brown.

There was a lively ‘music talk’ going on with MXM Entertainment.

With a partnership with a top American producer like this secured, talk of a world tour early next year was possible.

“Are all the things you mentioned planned for this year?”

“Are you not confident?”

Baek-seok looked at Seong-jun through the rearview mirror and asked.

Appearance at the Kohaku Uta Gassen and performance at the Budokan.

These are all huge-scale entertainment and concert stages.

Someone’s lifelong wish and a goal that no singer can easily put into words.

To believe in that was close to being a fool and an absurdity that could later become a dark history and cause one to be embarrassed.

one,

“No, I’m just a little excited.”

Seongjun answered.

“I knew you would do that.”

Baek-seok also just nodded indifferently at that absurd answer.

Oh Hae-soo, who had been glancing at the two people, concluded the conversation with one word.

“Anyway, the second half of this year will be incredibly busy.”

*

After dinner, we returned to our accommodation.

“Have a good night, brother.”

“Yeah, you too.”

After greeting everyone, Oh Hae-soo went into the room next door.

Seongjun is left alone.

It’s late, but I can’t fall asleep because I’ve been sitting in bed for quite some time.

There is still work to be done.

“Inventory.”

As I sit on the bed and give a command, a holographic window appears.

Among the many items filling each slot, including consumable items, he brought up one important item that was left at the very back before his eyes.

This is a 100% restored music box.

What happened?

It’s simple.

This is the result of selling 1 million albums while enjoying the magical sushi that melts on your tongue.

[You have achieved the special mission.]

[As a reward, you have obtained 20 Guild Fame and the ‘Broken Music Box’s Mainspring’.]

The moment I put the tuna belly in my mouth, my eyes widened at the message that came to my mind, and the sushi chef seemed to misunderstand and smiled happily as he brought out another piece of tuna belly.

Since I didn’t have time to leisurely check the system messages at that location, I had no choice but to put it off until I returned to my accommodations.

Thanks to that, I really wanted to come home in front of that delicious sushi.

Anyway, now is the time to calmly check the second hint that will provide a clue to the identity of ‘Bangsingki’.

Kkirik kirik-

♪~ ♬~

As I wound the music box, the mainspring unwound and the LP record on the trumpet gramophone began to rotate slowly.

As we listened quietly, we soon heard the voice of a man who introduced himself as ‘the developer of this game’.

– You ruined the fun, so take responsibility!

······yes?